Partners

'If I'm a liar then Benitez is skinny but Balotelli has always been Rossonero' – Materazzi

Marco Materazzi has hit back at accusations from Rafa Benitez by claiming his former coach is “skinny” if he is a liar.

The 2006 World Cup winner stoked fires with the Spaniard when he recently questioned the trainer’s methods while at Inter, with the retired centre-back then labelled a liar in response to the allegations.

However, Materazzi is refusing to accept Benitez’s statements and has offered his sympathy to Chelsea supporters for as long as the 54-year-old occupies the west Londoners’ hot seat.

Materazzi then reflected on his time spent with Mario Balotelli at the Giuseppe Meazza and revealed the Italy striker is an AC Milan fan – to the point that he once wore Rossoneri socks in the dressing room – but said he is unsurprised by the transfer speculation.

“Mario to Milan? He’d be playing for the team that he has always supported. The Rossoneri colours are his favourite. He once appeared in the dressing room wearing Milan socks, which I cut in half.

“Mario is a big kid and loves to have fun. For Allegri, he would be a big hit. He is an extraordinary striker with incredible potential. I only have great memories of him. In fact, the truth is that he has some bad memories of me.

“Before facing Barcelona in the first leg of our Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, I told him, ‘Today, if you come off the bench but don’t play as I know you can, I’ll hit you.